I have a back small garden which faces East. It is a bit dark and damp, and the fence and paving stones always look a bit green at this time of year, before the weather warms up. I have a little raised lawn and a lower level patio with chairs and tables, and a path which runs up to a concealed gate, opening up onto the field at the back. The house is on a corner plot, and there is a paved area to the side, with a big shed and a greenhouse. I love my greenhouse and most years, it is full of seedlings by now. Nothing grows in my garden apart from grass, so I tend to stick to growing vegetables in pots - usually tomatoes, peppers, runner and broad beans and sometimes potatoes in a big old dustbin. I have tried courgettes and cucumbers but they only ever flower, and then come to nothing. Something to do with a lack of bees maybe. After five years of unsuccessful attempts, I gave up.
I also plant up many pots and hanging baskets. My favourites are fuchsias, although I have come late to the flower party, and I still remember the boredom and misery at being dragged around the wasp infected, swelteringly hot Fuchsia tent at Northampton Show in the days when it was held in Abington Park in the 1970s. I always buy a couple of pots of French lavender too as it looks so beautiful in tubs in other peoples' gardens, although in mine, the purple flowers drop off as soon as I get them home and the stems go woody and dry. There is a gorgeous garden centre a couple of miles from where I live called Beckworth Emporium. I went there at the weekend and bought a bleeding heart, which is a plant I have coveted for many years, having first encountered one in a friend's garden a few years ago. Sadly, it looks to be yet another plant that needs a more green fingered guardian than me. The first photo shows how it should look. I have kept mine in the kitchen for now, because I am wary of late frosts, but even inside, it is starting to look a bit ill and many of the blooms have dropped. I WOULD pot it up and keep it in the greenhouse, but something has put the mockers on my usual gardening enthusiasm, which I am struggling to overcome. This something is the cause of my empty greenhouse and lack of glorious pots and hanging baskets. And it first appeared in my garden in January when there was a particularly harsh cold snap.
The birds were starving, everything was frozen solid and so I ventured out to put some water and breadcrumbs on my bird table. I kept watch from the kitchen window and was delighted that it was soon filled with hungry birds. And then I spotted another hungry visitor - creeping under the gap in the fence, with its nose sniffing the air. 'Ah', I thought, 'even the local squirrel is suffering'. And then I wondered whatever could have happened to his tail, which was usually bushy and full, but was now thin and long. And then I realised that it wasn't a squirrel at all, and so I let the dogs out and it ran back under the fence and onto the field. After that, there was nothing left on the table; the poor birds were left to fend for themselves. I was petrified and refused to go out into the garden for many weeks. Mr C bought a big black trap which he positioned close to the fence, in a place where the dogs couldn't get near it, but after a few days, the bait had not been touched. And so I wondered whether perhaps it was just the cold snap that had forced the creature to roam further than usual, and that it was a one off. I was vigilant but thankfully there was no evidence of a repeat visit. And then one afternoon in March, I saw it again. From the kitchen window, I watched as it ran along the path by the fence and then came across in front of my house, staying close to the building and went under the fence into my neighbour's garden. I was rigid! With crawling skin! But I let the dogs out, hoping that they would frighten it from coming back, and then tentatively went to call on my neighbour to tell her it had gone into her garden, and to let her dog out. But her dog was ill, so I lent her Polly, and the creature was apparently cornered in a gap between our extended kitchen and their conservatory. The gap was too narrow for Polly, and so we reached a deadlock. Eventually I reclaimed Polly, as although she is a cockapoo with a penchant for chickens, I am not sure how she would fare against a trapped rodent. Cocker spaniels are natural hunters, and I thought that poodles were originally bred to hunt tigers, but having consulted google, I may have invented that one. I didn't want to risk it anyway, and so I brought her back. Mr C reset the trap and left it close to the fence between our houses, and in the morning, Roland was no more! And the next night Mr C reset it again and this time caught Mickey! And it has been reset ever since but thankfully I think (?) it is always empty in the morning. I have tried to convince myself that it was just the one rogue creature, and there has been no further evidence of invasion, but I cannot bring myself to venture into the greenhouse, or to spend any time in the garden. Maybe the sunshine will bring me courage. And having the dogs with me, although sometimes they do make things worse. Like when I am in the house all alone and they suddenly go mental barking and looking up the stairs as if there is someone there.
Polly is a bit too interested in the area around the back of the greenhouse for me to be comfortable to go in there on my own.
So, that is why I am so behind with my garden endeavours. I am hopefully waiting for a warm weekend so I can rope in Mr C to help with the planting, and encourage him to do a recce of the greenhouse and surrounding area. Heaven knows what will happen if he finds something. Purple bricks anyone?
I may not have been out in the garden, but we went to Delapre Abbey on Bank Holiday Monday for lunch. We walked around the walled gardens and the park and down to the lake. Although it was a bit chilly, there were so many delights to brighten our day. This is becoming another favourite place for us - it's amazing how quiet it is, but always beautiful.
And finally, an update on Couch 2 5K. Today I have done my first run of week 9, which is the final week. I ran without stopping for 30 minutes. I have 2 more runs to do this week, and then I will become a graduate, an official runner! This is absolutely massive for me - I have seriously not run since cross country at school. Every run is so so hard, and I am never sure whether I will manage to complete them when I first start. But the thing that keeps me going is that I am worried if I stop, I might never run again. I am still waiting to love it, and today I have decided that I need to be lighter for that to happen. I need to be stricter with myself as I have been giving way to my sweet tooth a little recently. I have lost just over 4 stone since August, although my weight loss has slowed considerably since Christmas and if I am going to lose the final 2 stone, I just need to crack on with it, as I am currently in limbo.
I spoke to my neighbour yesterday who is in his mid 60's and runs 8 miles every day. He said he still doesn't love it while he's running, but does when he's finished. I was a bit disappointed to hear this, because that is already how I feel about running. And I have been waiting for a big breakthrough moment that will turn me into a lifelong runner. So maybe I just have to do it because it's good for me and will hopefully make me fitter and healthier and prolong my life. What better reason could there be anyway?
And to finish, I had a surprising experience during this morning's run. As I was doing my warm up walk, a massive bird flew past me and landed on a nearby rooftop. It was white with grey wings and had a head like a massive gull. I stopped for a second and took this photo, and then as I carried on, it took off and flew in the direction I was heading, coming to rest just out of sight. I kept looking for it and spotted it again flying towards the new housing estate, and then I lost it. I felt sure it was a stork, bringing me some good news (if not a bit late in the day...) and so when I got home, I once again consulted my old friend Google when I got home. And the images google found confirmed it. Sadly though, it seems I am too old for a visit from the stork after all, as when I sent the photo to my sister V, her reply came back firmly. "I'm sorry. It's a heron!"
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